


It's All Downhill from Here

by suluismyspirit



Series: The New Order [5]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Adventure, Sass
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-01 10:55:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10188362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suluismyspirit/pseuds/suluismyspirit
Summary: With Kirk gone, and Page slowly gaining more power, Sulu and McCoy or tossed into an unwelcome adventure.*This takes place before Purge of the New Order





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, here I am, once again procrastination in continuing my other stories. Why? I don't know, ask my muse. He seems to have fallen asleep and is hibernating somewhere...
> 
> Anyway! Enjoy yet another fic that I'm starting and will probably take far too long to finish!!
> 
> Comments are amazing and will literally make my day!

Hikaru took the opportunity, being alone in the lift, to lean against the wall, groaning slightly. He was beyond exhausted. Ever since Kirk had left near a month ago the entire crew, more or less, had been run ragged by their new captain. Even Spock hadn’t been able to do much, and had even been replaced as first officer. That had been a shock, to say the least.

Some of the officers less attached to the life of space travel had already transferred to bases on various planets. So far, Sulu was not impressed by the replacements. By and large, they were rude, arrogant, and had a knack for pushing the boundaries from teasing to outright bullying.

The icing on top of that lovely cake was that Captain Page hardly seemed to notice. Or if he did, he blamed the wrong party. Sulu’d had more than one reprimand for ‘conduct unbecoming a Starfleet officer’, though he hadn’t been the one to initiate the altercation.

For now, though, he was headed to sickbay, bringing new orders from Page to McCoy. The doctor was going to _love_ this new assignment… At least he wasn’t going to sickbay for some injury this time.

Sulu sighed lightly, straightening as the doors to the lift opened. One of Page’s favorites was waiting for him, though Sulu didn’t give him a glance. The man didn’t say anything either, thankfully, but fell into step behind Hikaru. Yet another thing that had changed in the time Kirk had been gone. More and more often, Page’s favored crew tended to follow some of the senior staff as they went about their duties. It was a headache and more, but Page was unwilling to accept any complaints over it.

Hikaru walked into sickbay, glancing around briefly to find McCoy.

Leonard turned around hearing the door, pressing his lips together and walking over. “Hey.” He ran his eyes briefly over Sulu, pleased to see that for once he wasn’t here for some idiotic injury. The Asian had a knack for getting into trouble.

“Hey.” Sulu nodded, returning the greeting. He cast a short glance at his escort before returning his gaze to McCoy, all but quoting the first officer with his next words. “You’ve been assigned to the away team for a mission to Xenori-4.” He hated to just dump the information on McCoy like this, but there wasn’t much he could do about.

“Is that so?” McCoy huffed, eyebrow lifting.

Sulu nodded, having already expected this reaction. The doctor was not excited about this in the least. Not that Sulu could blame him, for once he felt the same. Hikaru would much rather nap, do reports, basically anything that didn’t involve being on an away mission with an irate McCoy. “Yeah, we’re supposed to be in the transporter room in twenty minutes.”

McCoy frowned at that. “Do I not get at least an _explanation_? Where the hell are we going?”

Sulu took a breath to try and explain, but his escort piped up first. “It’s captain’s orders.” He growled, glaring at McCoy. “Now pack your shit and get going.”

Hikaru eyed the man for a moment, then turned back to McCoy with a quiet sigh. “Apparently, no.” He handed McCoy the data PADD that the first officer had given him. “This is all the information I’ve got.”

McCoy returned the security’s glare, murmuring something under his breath as he accepted the PADD from Sulu. He broke off his glare, focusing on the device now in his hands.

“… It ain’t hardly anything.” McCoy complained, looking up.

“I…. wasn’t given the opportunity to ask for more.” Sulu explained, grimacing apologetically. That was a bit of an understatement. He’d been pulled off helm, had the data PADD shoved into his hand, a rushed order given, then had been all but shoved onto the turbo lift to be on his way.

“Well, isn’t _that_ a surprise?”

Sulu quirked a smile at the sarcasm in the doctor’s voice, though that vanished soon after as the security officer moved forward, elbowing him roughly.

“You only got ten minutes to get to the transporter room.” He snapped at them, shooting a glare between the two. He shoved past them, heading out of sickbay.

McCoy stepped forward, clenching his fist, speaking in a harsh, hurried whisper to Sulu as the security officer walked out. “Sulu, you haven’t even had your medical check yet. This goes all against medical code if he’s planning on sending us out there without further examination.”

Sulu rubbed his sore arm, glaring shortly at the now closed sickbay doors, then turned his attention to McCoy. Much as he’d like to say he’ll be fine, he knew _exactly_ what kind of response that would elicit. Instead he gave McCoy a half smile. “At least I’m not actually injured?”

Oddly enough, Page had tried assigning him to an away mission while he’d been injured. Hikaru wasn’t exactly sure of all the detail on just _how_ he’d gotten out of it, but he had. He chalked it up to luck, and just tried to keep his head down.

“I’ll do what I can once we get down there.” McCoy huffed, knowing Sulu’s definition of ‘not injured’ was nearly on par with Jim’s and was just a disaster waiting to happen.

He nodded, appreciating McCoy’s concern. It was more work for the doctor to do, but he knew it would be impossible to convince the man to do anything different. “You need a hand packing up? Sorry I couldn’t give you more of a heads up, just found out about this myself.” He shrugged, giving McCoy an apologetic look. “We should probably get moving soon though.”

“I should be fine.” McCoy replied, shaking his head, glaring as he prepared his med back, packing a few extra tools and supplies he might need. He picked up the laser scalpel in one hand, raising a brow as he considered. He glanced over at Sulu, gesturing with it. “Something’s tellin’ me I’m gonna need this for our _adventure_.”

Hikaru snorted at that, surprised at Bones making a joke. “Yeah, and you’ll be needing it before the adventure even starts if we don’t get going.” Sulu wasn’t thrilled about this mission, and was reluctant to start, but he was even more wary of crossing either Page or the first officer by being late.


	2. Chapter 2

Two security officers entered sickbay a few moments later, Sulu recognizing them as ‘Page’s favorites’. “Speak of the devil…” Sulu mumbled, earning himself a short glare from one of them. Hikaru assumed they’d been sent to find him and McCoy, likely to escort them to the transporter.

“Your right…” McCoy muttered, moving swiftly to get the last bits and bobs together, glancing up as the security crew came in. He paused, whispering to Sulu. “Dammit, Mister Sulu… who knows what’s up his sleeve this time?”

Sulu watched the two security officers nervously, whispering back quickly. “Nothing good I’d bet.” It never was with Page. In fact, there hadn’t been a single away mission that had been any sort of ‘good’ since Kirk had left. Generally, most crew who went on an away mission came back injured, or not at all. The original crew that is. Page’s people always came back without a scratch.

“You two are _supposed_ to be at the transporter.” One of the officers snapped unhappily. Sulu wanted to roll his eyes at that. The man was acting like it they were inconveniencing him. The other officer didn’t waste time on words, obviously in no mood for explanations or excuses, and simply moved forward to not so gently herd McCoy and Sulu out the door.

McCoy turned around, glaring at the man as he approached. “Watch it.”

The officer just scowled, shoving McCoy towards the door, much to the amusement of his companion.

“Hey!” Sulu complained, stepping forward in objection to that. He only got shoved back toward the door in response, the security officer not saying a word.

“Move it, both of you.” The talkative red shirt said. “You had your orders, you shoulda been at the transporter five minutes ago.”

McCoy frowned, a hint of fatigue in his eyes. He knew pushing it would make the situation worse, Sulu was at risk too after all. With no other alternative, he heading out the door, doing his best to ignore the man talking as he walked.

The security officer’s tone took on a taunting quality as they walked, glancing over at Sulu. “I’ll be glad to have a _real_ pilot at the helm once you’re gone Sue.” He chucled, reaching over to roughly ruffle Sulu’s hair, half pushing him.

Sulu stepped away a bit at that to keep his balance, gritting his teeth. He really hated being called Sue, and unfortunately Page’s new security knew that. He had no idea which one of them started it, or spread the word around, but it was the cause of more than one confrontation.

Now wasn’t the time to complain though. He might be okay getting into it on his own, but they were scheduled to go on a mission, and Sulu knew that fight or not, they would be going. Sulu wasn’t going to risk himself and McCoy being sent down injured just for the sake of his pride.

“Come on Sue, don’t pount. I’m sure even you can manage not to screw up this mission.” The man snorted. “Least you only got ‘Bones’ here, less people you can potentially get killed.”

McCoy frowned, readily unimpressed with the man, though he was aware of Sulu’s tense body language. He could surmise this wasn’t the first time such a thing had been said.

Hikaru was both glad and somewhat worried to see the first officer ahead by the transporter room doors. The man’s presence would shut the security officer’s mouth, but it was never a good sign when the commander got involved.

“The captain wants you to go down to the surface, here are your orders.” The first officer spoke haughtily, like this was beneath him as he handed them both data PADDs. He looked at them both coldy for a moment, waving them toward the transporter when they didn’t immediately move, then turned and strode away.

Sulu glanced at McCoy as the two security officers moved forward, the unspoken threat that they’d _make_ them get on the transporter rather obvious. McCoy returned Sulu’s look, absolutely loathing this place and this predicament. “This is gonna go down like a lead balloon.” He commented, shaking his head slightly.

“A balloon?” Sulu couldn’t help but smirk, amused at the metaphor despite himself. Finally, a metaphor he could understand.

“Flirt later Sue, move now.” The redshirt snapped, grabbing Sulu by the collar and dragging him onto the transporter. Sulu let out an involuntary little yelp, stumbling slightly but staying on his feet as he took his spot on the transporter. He glowered at the officer as he was released and straightened his uniform.

The other security stepped toward McCoy, glowering with a grumpy huff. “…Move it.”

McCoy reluctantly stepped forward, wanting to show the man who not to mess with. He knew a losing battle when he saw one, however, and took his place on the pad beside Sulu. Enough missions like this and his nerves were gonna be shot.

One redshirt waved cheekily at the two of them as the transporter activated, Sulu frowning worriedly at the man’s grin. This was not going to go well, that was for certain.


	3. Chapter 3

The two of them materialized in a jungle type area, the air hot and humid around them. If Sulu hadn’t been in such a foul mood, he might have appreciated the scenery. It was all a deep rich green and brown, a canopy of leaves and branches over their head. He’d have compared it to the amazon forest on earth, even though he’d never actually been there himself before.

Unfortunately, Sulu was in no mood to appreciate the surroundings. Now that it was just the two of them, with no need to maintain appearances, he rubbed at the ache in his shoulder and neck. He took a few steps forward, looking around. “…this sucks.”

“You okay, Sulu?” McCoy frowned, watching Sulu’s movements and walking over to inspect the man.

“I’m fine, just sore.” Sulu replied with a small shrug. It was, by far, not the first time he’d been drug around by a security officer. In fact, that had been a tamer encounter than most. He stood still though, letting McCoy check him over.

Once McCoy was satisfied that Sulu hadn’t received any injuries, though there would likely be a bruise, he stepped back, watching as Sulu read through the PADD he’d been given.  
“…not very generous with the specifics.” Sulu commented, frowning. “Natives, medicines of some sort. And… apparently, we’ve got just four hours.” He looked up at McCoy. “You got anything different?” Or more helpful, he thought to himself.

McCoy narrowed his eyes, looking down at his own information. “it just says, ‘be a good doctor, now’.”

“That’s unhelpful.” Sulu sighed, rolling his shoulder a bit. “Guess we should at least try and find these natvies…”

“It was obviously a smart remark.” McCoy commented, nodding in agreement to Sulu’s suggestion. He frowned to himself, looking around. “What damn place are we in anyway?”

“It appears to be some kind of planet.” Sulu smirked, putting on a n exaggeratedly formal tone. Sulu smiled apologetically at the glare he received from McCoy for that comment. He pulled out a scanner, turning on the spot to get a reading of the surroundings as he spoke. "It's M class, obviously. Pretty sure initial scans indicated freezing temperatures at night, humid days. So, a very odd ecosystem." He snapped the device closed, putting it back on his belt as he looked over at McCoy once more. "Not picking up any human signs close by."

“A breath of fresh air, alright.” McCoy remarked sarcily to himself. He dropped the look of ridicule he’d leveled at Sulu for his previous comment and began walking, choosing a direction at random. “Wait till we finally come across these ‘things’, once they _decide_ to show up. Something’s telling me we ain’t gonna get any good ol’ southern hospitality any time soon.”

Sulu followed after McCoy, one directions was just about as good as another for him right now. “Do we ever get _anything_ resembling hospitality…” He commented, mostly to himself. Even on away missions with Kirk things tended to go sideways a lot, especially concerning more primitive cultures. With Page, the likelihood had only increased.

“Not if we’re talking about Vulcans, we ain’t.” McCoy huffed. He grunted, pulling a face of disgust as he stepped in something. Wisely, Sulu didn’t comment, just moved around whatever it was and continued walking.

Sulu stopped, hearing drums in the distance, and glanced over at McCoy. The doctor tensed up, meeting Hikaru’s gaze with worried eyes. “I think we’re headed the right way.” Sulu commented, lips pressing together tensely. He stepped forward to take the lead.

“Hey! Wait!” McCoy called out, hurrying over as Sulu stopped again. “You can’t be serious, Mister Sulu. What if they’re savages?”

Sulu paused, looking toward the direction of the drums. “We aren’t going to get anywhere just standing around doc.” He reasoned. “And we’re limited on time here. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on walking right in the middle of whatever’s going on.”

He didn’t plan to anyway. Their mission hadn’t exactly been clearly explained, so he was basically making it up as he went along. At the very least, they would need to scout out the inhabitants of this world. In Sulu’s opinion, McCoy was likely right, and they would be, maybe not savages, but at the very least a primitive culture.

He’d picked up no sign of advanced technology on the scanner, and considering the cryptic remarks on the data PADD about medicines and natives, it was likely they were here to find some sort of plant. Which, now that Sulu thought about it, explained why it had been him and McCoy chosen for this mission.

“The faster we get this done, the faster we get back on board the Enterprise.” Sulu stated, speaking mostly to himself as he began walking once more.


End file.
